CAMP RUPERTO KANGLEON, PALO, Leyte- An inmate facing multiple murder charges escaped from his detention at the Jipapad municipal police station last Sunday (Sept.10).
Reports reaching from the regional police headquarters, based here, disclosed that at about 11:45 am, suspect Icidro Oros, asked PO1 Jeffrey Resus to allow him to visit his wife at their house in Barangay 01 to check on her condition as she was reportedly suffering from diabetes.
PO1 Resus, allowed this request of the escapee without seeking clearance for approval from his superiors.
Upon reaching their house, Oros reportedly escaped using the back door.
As a result of Oros escape, Resus was disarmed and is now under investigation for any possible filing of appropriate charges.
Meantime, elements of the Jipapad municipal police station immediately conducted hot pursuit operation for the possible arrest of the suspect. (PR)

TACLOBAN CITY- The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) had completed the restoration of the Ormoc High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) Converter Station, and is now fully engaged to allow power sharing between the Luzon and Visayas grids.
This was disclosed by NGCP spokesperson Cynthia Alabanza during a public hearing conducted by the Leyte provincial board last September 8 on the status of electricity in the province after it was hit by a 6.5 magnitude earthquake last July 6.
Energy Undersecretary Petronilo Ilagan also attended the public hearing conducted by the provincial board, sitting as a committee as a whole and presided by Vice Governor Carlo Loreto.
The tremor that hit the province, particularly Kananga and Ormoc City where the power plants of the NGCP and Energy Development Corp. are located, resulted in a massive blackout that lasted for more than a month across the region and parts of Bohol and Cebu.
Alabanza said that their restoration work involved moving several heavy equipment from different NGCP facilities in the country to replace damaged parts such as converter transformers and breakers, among others, according to the company.
“What we did was we repair first(the transformer) and if it is not repairable, we replaced but then again repairing is not that easy because it entailed packing the transformers that as big as this session hall and bringing it to Ormoc,” she said.
Alabanza added that having a spare transformer in Cebu that is compatible with the transformer in Leyte makes it easier for them to energize the converter station in Ormoc, a project they implemented when they took over the transmission company in 2007.
With the energization of the HVDC in Ormoc, the Visayas grid can now import power from Luzon grid to augment the power supply requirements and relieve generation deficiency, she added.
Also during the public hearing, Alabanza expressed her concern over the absence of power generation facilities in Samar provinces that could augment the electricity needs of the region if the power generation companies in Leyte fail to produce energy.
The provincial board will set another date for the continuation of the public hearing with the EDC, being one of the important pillars in the energy sector.
“We need to know their plans and commitments (and) when will they finish the repair of their damaged facilities,” Loreto said.
From more than 700 megawatts (MW), EDC’s electricity production was reduced to 210 MW after the earthquake. The company is supplying the power needs of the whole region as well as to Cebu, Bohol and other parts of the Visayas, including Luzon.
(ROEL T. AMAZONA)

ORMOC CITY- District Engineer Lino Francisco Gonzalez of the 4th Leyte Engineering District Office(DEO) reported that out of the 81 projects lined up for this fiscal year, 63 of them have already been completed.
Gonzales made this disclosure during a press conference called by his office which was also attended by assistant district Engineer Irwin Antonio, construction chief Renato Frias, and quality assurance chief Elmer Napoles.
Gonzales said that their accomplishment was based last month with the remaining ongoing 18 projects expected to be completed by this year.
If not by the end of this year, these delayed projects would be completed in the first quarter next year as the contractors already have approved suspensions, he added.
Most of these 18 ongoing projects are considered high impact projects above P50 million. These include a number of road and bridge widening projects as well as some flood control structures.
The projects done in coordination with the Department of Education under the 2016 fund was also discussed during the press conference.
Among the 33 projects, 30 of which are completed while three are nearing completion.
Overall, these constitutes to more than 100 classrooms.
Projects with DepEd under the 2017 fund are, however, still awaiting release. Nevertheless, the plans are already ready. These include unique resilient workshops, vocational technical classrooms, and multi-storey buildings.
For next year, 2018, the DEO is expecting 72 projects worth P2.8 billion excluding school buildings and farm-to-market roads. (PR)

TACLOBAN CITY- The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) here in the region will conduct inspection among establishments if they are complying an order ensuring the health safety of their workers.
DOLE-8 Director Joel Gonzales said that under Department Order 178, business owners are required to allow their workers to rest after standing a long period of time or of frequently walking, especially women who are wearing high-heeled shoes.
Women have complained that wearing high-heeled shoes for hours causes some joint pains or make them vulnerable to sprain ankles, among other discomforts.
The DOLE issued a guidelines prohibiting establishments requiring their women workers or employees to wear high- heeled shoes.
“Hindi directly na pinagbabawal ang pagsusuot ng high- heeled shoes like front liners workers (but) there should be safety measures or should provide seats or rest time because we are promoting here the health and welfare of our workers,” Gonzales said.
Gonzales, however, said that to ensure the safety of the women workers or employees, their office will conduct an inspection among establishments or offices if they are complying the order.
(JESSICA A.OLEVO, LNU Student Intern)

TACLOBAN CITY- The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) has already started the implementation of the P20 million worth of Yolanda Recovery and Rehabilitation Program (YRRP) for Eastern Visayas.
DOST-8 senior science research specialist Engr. Ramil Uy said that the YRRP was approved December of last year but they only received the funding last June.
Uy said that out of the P20 million worth of YRRP, the DOST already released P13.79 million covering 59 projects for the six provinces in the region.
The YRRP is a funding initiated by the national government as its response for areas hit by super typhoon ‘Yolanda’ recovers from the devastation.
The DOST’s YRRP is divided into two component which includes livelihood and community empowerment through science and technology.
Under the livelihood aspect, the DOST check raw materials in a community which can be converted into an efficient livelihood mechanism which can be managed by the people, Uy said.
The beneficiaries are the poorest residents of the identified communities.
Meantime, the community empowerment through science and technology is divided into five components, namely, education, livelihood, water and sanitation, health and nutrition, and disaster risk reduction and management (DRRM).
In education, Uy said that they would focus more on enhancing the knowledge of students especially in areas where their office has no scholars.
Under this component, the DOST conducts a review and distribute star books where they can research their project.
While in water and sanitation aspect, the DOST will visit a particular community wherein they will check if their water is potable and if they need to analyze their water.
“If there are incidences of water-borne diseases, we help them through our laboratory and give them appropriate technology,” Uy said.
Under the DRRM, the DOST will put up monitoring equipment in order for them to know the level of rain fall and if they need to evacuate. While in the health and nutrition, they will conduct feeding program especially in areas wherein there is a high malnutrition rate.
“We give importance to these five components in order to empower the community,” Uy said.
Uy said that they still accept and evaluate program proposals. In fact, they just recommended seven additional projects for funding.
“Our livelihood (component) continues but now it became a variety because of the funding that President Rodrigo Roa-Duterte under the Yolanda Recovery and Rehabilitation Program (YRRP) for one year,” Uy said.
Meantime, the DOST encourages other local government units, barangay and people’s organizations who want to avail the YRRP to submit a project proposal. (RYAN GABRIEL LLOSA ARCENAS)